She's Yours
by miss.angela.writes
Summary: When a girl's mother and stepfather are killed, Horatio is determined to find the girls biological father. When he does, it's the person no one expects. Please read & review.
1. Chapter 1

"Duquesne," said Calleigh, picking up her phone. She was at lunch with her fellow workers Eric, Natalia, and Ryan. They were at their favorite outdoor café, Rudel's, on a balmy July day.

"Calleigh, its Horatio. We need you guys down at 884 Peachtree. There was a double murder." The phone line went dead. She sighed. They never managed to make it through lunch, and she regretted that.

"Lunch break over," said Calleigh, grabbing her bag, "Double murder at 884 Peachtree." They all stood up. Ryan shoved a blondie in his mouth while everyone stared.

"I'm sorry," he said, grabbing his coat off the back of his chair, "I had a girlfriend in high school that got me hooked on blondies. She had the _best_ recipe!"

"Spare us the story," said Eric, tossing him the keys, "and get driving." They all climbed into the CSIs Hummer. Ryan smiled to himself as he drove like a madman. He felt a little bit like Calleigh. He absolutely hated it when she drove- Bullet Girl drives like a maniac.

***

Natalia looked over the crime scene. There were two people lying dead on the floor- a husband and wife. Blood was everywhere. And worst of all, their murder has chosen to cut their heads off and placed them on the kitchen counter.

Eric looked over the note Horatio had already taken of the crime scene.

"So the vics were Ruth and Thomas McCoy. Both 32, always lived in Florida. Ruth was a dessert chef, and Thomas was a banker. Their daughter called it in."

"You know, I think I'll help Horatio comfort the girl," she said to Eric, handing him the camera. Too much blood made her shiver. She felt a little queasy just looking at the scene.

"Hey H," she said, sitting down next to him at the dining room table.

"Natalia, this is Ellie," he said. Natalia glanced at the girl. She seemed young- perhaps fourteen at the oldest. She had long wavy brown hair, and her eyes were bloodshot from crying.

"Hi Natalia," she said, her voice wavering as she spoke. She brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"Ellie, we're going to need you to tell us everything," said Horatio. He felt like just hugging the girl, but he needed to get the job done.

"Okay," she said, wiping a tear away, "So I was gonna make homemade granola bars at my friend Jen's. My mom's the dessert chef at the Waterside, so she has all these really good recipes. I was walking over- Jen lives a couple blocks away- when I realized I forgot the recipe. I ran back over here after calling Jen. When I came in, I found my mom and Tom on the floor. So I called you." She started crying again. Natalia held her in her arms and rubbed her back.

"Wait. Your mom and Tom? Thomas isn't your real father?" she questioned.

"Nope," Ellie sniffed, calming down a slight bit, "My mom got pregnant with me in high school. She moved in with my great-grandparents here in Miami when she found out."

"Okay," said Horatio, "So do you know who your biological father is?"

"No. My mom never told him, didn't keep contact. She said she'd tell me on my sixteenth birthday who he was. That was only three years away... I'll never know now." She burst into tears.

"Ellie. It's going to be okay." Horatio took Ellie's hand and made her look at him. "Listen Ellie. I'm going to find out who did this to your parents."

"Kay."

"Do you have someone you can stay with for now? Like an aunt or an uncle or your grandparents?"

"Ummm... well, my grandparents all died. My parents were both only-childs. But I probably could stay at Jen's place." Ellie stared up at Horatio with wide eyes. He felt compassion for the girl- she was so young, so innocent. She didn't deserve this.

"Okay then. I'll speak with Jen's parents. In the meantime, I'd like you to pack a bag. We're going to need you to come down to come down to our lab."

"Sure." Ellie got up and ran for the stairs.

Natalia watched her pound the stairs. She shook her head.

"The poor girl. She has no family."

"Not for long," said Horatio, looking up from his notes, "I'm going to find that girl her father."

***

"Finding her father? Is H out of his mind?" said Ryan to Eric as they worked over the evidence. Ryan knew that Horatio always wanted to help out, but this might be going just a little _too_ far.

"I think it's nice that he's trying," said Eric, "I mean, the poor girl! No family at all."

"I know, I know," said Ryan, now feeling like the bad guy, "I feel for her too." He picked up an evidence bag and examined it. There was a tiny hair inside. He looked up and saw Ellie standing with Horatio in the hallway.

"I'm gonna get this to DNA," he said, standing up.

"Kay. Talk to you later." Eric barley looked up from the knife he was examining. Ryan pushed the door open and walked down the hallway. He smiled at Ellie as he passed her and she smiled back. There was something about that girl that was familiar. He just couldn't figure out what it was.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to everyone who wrote me such fantastic reviews! It was so nice to have people like my first fanfic. I'll try to update as soon as I can.

***

"You got anything on the dead couple?" Eric asked Tara as he walked into the morgue. She looked up from the work she was doing.

"Well, besides cutting their heads off, he stabbed them each several times in the chest. No bullets for Calleigh," she said, handing him a file, "Got anything on who might have killed them?" Eric shook his head.

"Not yet. Calleigh and I are going to talk to Ellie about it later, though."

"Oh. That's good. How's she doing?"

"Who?"

"Ellie."

"She's been better, that's for sure. H has this notion that he can find her biological father. He's got nothing so far."

"Well, that's nice. Let me know if he gets anything."

"Sure thing." Eric turned and headed out. He spotted Calleigh down the hall and ran to her.

"Hey Eric!" she said with a smile. His heart soared. Calleigh was so sweet, especially to him.

"Tara wanted to know if H had anything more on Ellie's biological father."

"No, not yet. But DNA got back to us on those hairs. It turned out they were from Rick Selter."

"Who the heck is that?" Eric was puzzled. Had this Rick come up in a previous case?

"He's the owner of Waterside, the restaurant Ruth worked at. But get this," Calleigh said, showing Eric the profile she had brought up, "Rick went to the same high school as Ruth!"

***

"Ellie, do you know anyone named Rick Selter?" Calleigh asked the teen in one of the questioning rooms.

"Yeah, of course," she explained, "He was my mom's boss. Why?"

"Would he have any reason to kill your parents?" Eric asked gently. He didn't want to hurt Ellie's feelings.

"No way," she said assertively, "because my mom's his head dessert chef. That's reason why half the people come to his restaurant."

"How are you so sure?"

"He told my mom that after he promoted her to head dessert chef."

"Really? So who did he pass up?"

"Ummm... her name is Leona Thompson. She did desserts with my mom. Leona got really upset when my mom got promoted," Ellie paused for a minute, "You guys don't think Leona killed my parents, do you?"

"It's possible," said Calleigh. She turned to Eric, "Hey, do you think you could get Leona in here for me. I'm in a little time crunch today Turns out Tara actually did find a bullet."

"Sure, no problem." Eric left the questioning room to track down Leona Thompson.

***

"Natalia!" said Ryan, entering the lab, "Got anything on that print Eric pulled from the knife?" She turned away from her computer.

"Well, it was only a partial. But I found a 93.4% match."

"Great. Who is it?"

"Same woman Ellie mentioned. Leona Thompson. She got arrested for DUI last year." Ryan peered at the screen, checking over the data. Natalia couldn't help but give him a once over. He looked different when he was in a suit. Almost... cuter. Natalia got a hold of her thoughts. He was a coworker, nothing more. Or so she had thought up until now.

***

"Why am I here?"

"Leona, you're here because you killed Ruth and Thomas McCoy," said Horatio calmly. He slid off his sunglasses and placed them on the table.

"What? That's impossible," said the woman brushing her hair out of her face, "I was at Waterside. There was supposed to be a dinner party later, and I was asked to make the cake."

"Really?" Horatio responded, "Then how are your prints on the murder weapon?" He placed the knife down in its bag.

"Someone stole my bag of kitchen knives. That one's mine," Leona said, "I swear. I even told my boss about it. He said there was nothing we could do."

"Well, we'll see about that.


	3. Chapter 3

Again, thanks you to everyone who commented / added me to their alerts. It means a lot. I'll try to update as soon as I can. :)

***

"Hey Natalia," said Calleigh, sitting down next to her in the break room. Her friend seemed a little nervous and jumpy.

"Oh... uh, yeah. Hey," Natalia managed to squeak out. Her mind was still on Ryan. She didn't even know why she had developed this silly little crush. Why did her brain pick now to let her in on the plan?

"Something wrong?" Calleigh asked. She poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Eh. I just have a lot on my mind," Natalia replied feebly.

"Okay. Well, if you wanna talk, you know where I'll be." Calleigh left the break room. She could tell that Natalia wanted to think alone.

***

"Nothing," Horatio said to Eric, "Absolutely nothing!"

"H, you knew it'd be hard to find her father. I'm sure there's some other database you could check or something."

"I don't know. I think I've tried everything. Her father's not a criminal, that's for sure. We've got the DNA of every single one in the county." Eric looked over the several screens Horatio had pulled up. Each of them came up with, as Horatio had said, absolutely nothing.

"Well... at least you tried." Eric attempted to make Horatio feel better, with no luck.

"I thought for sure I'd find him." Horatio rubbed his temples. Had he finally come across the one case he couldn't solve?

***

"Hi Natalia! Hi Calleigh! Hi Ryan!" Ellie chirped, walking into the break room at lunchtime. They were all surprised from the cheeriness in her voice.

"Hey Ellie. How ya feeling?" Ryan asked, grabbing her a chair.

"Better. I think I've got all the tears out by now."

"That's good." Calleigh smiled at the young girl. She was mature beyond her years, in Calleigh's mind. She wondered if she could have handled her parents dying when she was thirteen. She didn't think she would have been able to.

"What smells so good?" asked Eric walking in.

"Well, that might just be me," said Ellie, taking the cloth off the basket she had brought in with her, "I made you guys blondies." They all helped themselves to the cookies.

"Now _these_ are blondies," said Ryan, sitting back in his chair.

"Thanks," Ellie smiled, "I made them with my mom's recipe." Suddenly, something important clicked in Calleigh's mind.

"Hey Eric, did H find him yet?" she said, careful not to mention that they were trying to find Ellie's father with her right there. Horatio hadn't wanted to tell her unless he found her father.

"No. Why?"

"Because I think I might have." She rushed out of the break room before anyone could stop her with questions. Everyone was at a loss for words.

***

"H, did you run through the employee database for Ellie's father?" Calleigh asked breathlessly. She had run through the entire lab to find Horatio.

"No. Why would I?"

"Because I think she might belong to someone here." Horatio was confused, but Calleigh seemed convinced. He pulled up the employee database, entered a few codes, and started scanning.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Horatio said, "or you'll have gotten my hopes up for nothing."

Suddenly a screen popped up. They were met with the smiling face of one of their friends.

"Oh my god. She's _his_!"


	4. Chapter 4

And once again, thanks for all the super sweet reviews! I love the fact that you guys love the story. I'll probably be able to get a couple more chapters up soon. :)

***

The week flew by for the CSIs at the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. They interviewed and inspected anyone and everyone Ellie could come up with that might have wanted to kill her parents. Most came up at dead ends, but many mentioned that Leona Thompson had always had something against Ruth.

"Calleigh, you got anything?" asked Natalia, walking into the Ballistics lab. Calleigh glanced up from her work.

"Almost. I'm just scanning for whose gun that bullet behind Thomas' eye came from." They both wearily eyed the screen. This case was one of the hardest they'd had recently. And Calleigh's mind was still on Ellie's father. She'd never imagined _him_ as a father, until now.

"Well, will you look at that," said Natalia, "The gun's registered to Rick Selter."

"Wow. I was sure Leona had done it," Calleigh shook her head, "and Rick isn't even the father."

"Wait. Horatio found her father?" Natalia was puzzled.

"Umm... I was just thinking, I _hope_ he isn't the father. Especially because we think he might have killed Ellie's parents."

"Yeah, good point. Listen, you want to go get a drink after work tonight? I'll invite Eric and Ryan, too."

"Oh, I don't know."

"C'mon Calleigh. It's Friday night. Have a little fun."

"Alright! I'll go talk to the guys." Natalia left, leaving Calleigh thanking herself for coming up with a good story fast.

***

Laughter exploded among the CSIs as Natalia and Calleigh attempted to play pool against Eric and Ryan later that day. The girls might not have been that great, but they were having a good time.

"Let's finish off this game," said Eric, shooting the 8-ball into a corner pocket, "and I think we crushed you." Calleigh smacked his wrist.

"We'll get you next time," said Natalia, taking a sip of her piná colada. They sat down at a bar table and caught up. They automatically turned to the case of Ellie's missing biological father.

"Yeah, Cal, what was that thing about in the break room the other day?" asked Ryan.

"Oh. It was nothing," said Calleigh, picking a thread off her shirt, "I thought I had something, but I didn't." If Horatio wasn't telling, then neither was Calleigh.

"Bummer." They discussed a few more cases and turned to politics. Around eleven o'clock, Calleigh stood up.

"I think I'll be going, guys," she said, grabbing her coat. She kicked Eric under the table. It was time to put their little "hook-up" plan into action.

"Yeah, me too," Eric said. He wasn't as sure as Calleigh was that their good friends liked each other, but you never could know.

"Really? So soon?" Natalia complained, "But we only got here..."

"... two hours ago," Calleigh finished, "And this week's been tough on us all."

"I guess you're right. See you guys tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah. Bye." Calleigh and Eric left. Ryan and Natalia sat around a while longer, talking and playing another game of pool.

"How can you be beating me?" Ryan complained as Natalia sunk another ball into a pocket.

"I was just playing easy on you boys," she said with a smile, "and I didn't want to make Calleigh feel bad 'cause she was terrible at pool."

"Ha ha. You are one devil of a girl." Natalia laughed. Ryan had never noticed how funny and smart and cute Natalia was. He was taken aback by his own thoughts. Cute? He'd never thought of Natalia like that. Until now.

***

"Thanks for walking me up," said Natalia when they were outside her apartment door.

"No problem." The two of them stood there awkwardly for a moment. Neither of them knew what to say.

"Good night," Natalia finally said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. Umm... good night." Natalia laughed, confusing Ryan.

"What's so funny?"

"I'm gonna kill Calleigh and Eric," she said, shaking her head.

"Why?"

"Because they totally set us up."

"You think so?" Ryan pondered Eric and Calleigh's actions all day. He started laughing too, "You're right."

"They were just trying to be good friends, I think."

"Yeah." Once again, Natalia's hallway was filled with silence.

"Soooo..." Ryan said, "How do you want to kill them?"

"Maybe we shouldn't. Horatio would have no team left once he solved their murder. He'd have to steal people from the night crew." Ryan chuckled.

"For Horatio's sake, I won't shoot them."

"Ryan, if I shot them, I'd miss." The two of them laughed. Before they knew what was happening, they kissed. Natalia was taken aback.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked, turning the key in her door.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow."

"Bye Ryan," said Natalia, stepping inside.

"Bye." Natalia closed the door. They didn't know it, but as they both walked in opposite directions, they were biting their lips to keep from smiling.


	5. Chapter 5

OMG! Thanks again for the fabu reviews. I am just loving where the story is going. :)

***

"Morning Calleigh," said Eric, walking into the Ballistics lab. Calleigh smiled at him, looking terribly excited.

"Guess what!"

"What?"

"I think our little plan worked," she said, pointing through the door, "Look." He glanced up and out the glass wall. Ryan and Natalia were walking out of the elevator together, laughing. Eric couldn't help but smile at his coworkers. Calleigh was right- they _did_ make a good couple.

"You are just the greatest matchmaker," Eric said, giving her a high-five, "Do you think we'll be in any form of trouble for setting them up?"

"Nah. They look too happy to be mad at us." Calleigh was so proud of herself- she usually never caught the signs of a relationship in-the-making, not even her own.

"Hey Calleigh. Hey Eric," said Natalia as she entered the lab. She slipped on her lab coat, "Got any new leads?"

"Yeah. H has a meeting with Rick Selter today. He said there was something he wanted to tell him. He thinks it might be a confession."

"Great." Natalia left the lab with the file in her hands. Calleigh was upset that Natalia hadn't said anything about last night. Had she and Eric read the signs all wrong?

***

"Ryan," said Eric walking into the lab, "what's up with you?"

"What on earth do you mean?" asked Ryan, transferring some data into a spreadsheet, "I've been in here all day."

"I mean with Boa Vista. You two have been acting weird all day." Eric was hoping for a confession of some sort. He was as mad as Calleigh was about no mention of the night before.

"Seriously?"

"What do you mean, 'Seriously'?"

"I mean, you guys freaking set us up!"

"You're mad?" Eric prayed he wasn't mad. Maybe Calleigh had totally gotten everything wrong, in which case he wanted _nothing_ to do with the set up.

"Of course not. You could have just said something."

"About what?"

"About the fact that you thought we should date."

"Are you?"

"Are we what?"

"Dating."

"Me and Nat? I dunno. I've barely seen her all day." Ryan couldn't help but smile a little before continuing, "Honestly, man, I don't know."

"If you say so..." Eric left the lab to go talk to Calleigh. He thought they might have a victory waiting for them.

***

"Hi Horatio! I'm in the lobby." Ellie's sounded cheery on the phone. Horatio was happy- he was taking her to lunch to tell her he had found her biological father.

"Okay. I'll be right down. Wait for me by the fountain."

"Kay." Ellie hung up on Horatio. He headed for the elevator, noticing the closeness of Ryan and Natalia as he passed. He pondered the thought of them as a couple for a moment before he moved on.

When he entered the lobby, he scanned the area for Ellie. There was no sign of her anywhere. He shook his head and headed for the fountain. She was a short girl- five foot even- someone had probably gotten in his view of her. When he reached the fountain, he was surprised to find he was wrong. There was a paper sitting on its edge. Horatio picked it up and read it.

_Miami-Dade Crime Lab:_

_If you think you're seeing Ellie again, get to their ex-McCoy residence by 10:30am. Her life depends on it._

_See if you have what it takes._

Horatio's heart began to beat a little faster. He checked his watch- 10:12. They had to get moving. He picked up his phone and dialed Calleigh.

"Duquesne," she said when she answered.

"Get Eric, Natalia, and Ryan and meet me in the lobby. We have a slight problem." He hung up, knowing they'd be there momentarily. Sure enough, he saw them come bounding out of the stairwell a minute later.

"What's the problem H?" Eric asked, taking a deep breath.

"We have a slight hostage situation." Horatio looked over his crew.

"Who's the hostage?" Ryan asked, concerned. They didn't deal with hostage situations too often.

"Ellie."

"Oh my god!" They all looked at Calleigh. She stared back at them for a moment before continuing, "I'm sorry. Look at that note. Don't you think we should be a little worried?" They were already almost out of the parking garage.

"Of course," said Ryan, "You know we're all attached to Ellie."

"You should be especially concerned," Horatio said to Ryan.

"Why?"

"Because, Mr. Wolfe," he said, sliding on his sunglasses, "she's yours."


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks again for the really nice reviews & for adding me to your alerts. This story is probably going to only have a few more chapters, but I promise I'll write more stories! I never realized how fun fanfics are. :)

***

Ryan barely had time to comprehend the fact that he had a daughter before he started to comprehend the fact that his daughter was in trouble. He never thought he would ever be so scared during a case before. He checked his watch- 10:19.

"Eric, can you drive any faster?" he complained, checking his watch for a second time.

"Sorry, Ry, it goes no faster," Eric said, glancing back at his buddy. Ryan was never nervous like this. Eric could tell Ryan really cared about his daughter.

***

"MIAMI-DADE PD!" Calleigh shouted as she kicked the locked door to the ground. She stepped over it, checking the scene. She found blood everywhere. A _lot_ of blood. She just prayed that it wasn't Ellie's. She moved aside to let the others in, and they spread out among the foyer.

"Kitchen," Horatio said quietly. They all listened as they heard a low moan. They headed in where they were met with five dead bodies, and Leona Thompson.

"Miami-Dade Crime Lab," she said, running a knife along her hand, "How nice of you to come punctually." She cackled quietly as she surveyed the room.

"Who are these people, Leona?" Horatio asked.

"No one out of the ordinary. Rick Selter, obviously. He was going to tell you my plan. And the neighbors... they always annoyed Ruth. I thought I'd be nice for a change."

"Nice? You think that was being nice?" Ryan shouted. His volume surprised everyone- Ryan rarely got angry. He continued, "You think it's nice to end someone's life. You've practically destroyed my daughter's!" Leona smirked.

"Well... it was nice meeting you all. I hope you all die in a line of duty." With those words, Leona took the knife in her hand and stabbed it into her own heart.

"Calleigh, Natalia, you take care of this. Eric, get the pictures and try to ID all the neighbors. Ryan, you come with me. We have to find Ellie," Horatio ordered. They all got to work.

"I'll take the second floor," said Ryan. He was scared sick to his stomach that Leona had done something to _**his **_daughter. She had had no right to do this to her.

"Ellie?" he called tentatively as he entered the first room, a bedroom. He searched the entire room with no luck. Same went for the next two rooms. Finally, he entered what he presumed to be Ellie's room. He could hear something coming from the closet.

He took a deep breath and pulled open the door. There he found his daughter, bounded up in masking tape, crying on the floor. She looked up, scared and confused. Ryan's heart was filled with relief when he realized she was okay.

"H, I got her!" he shouted, carefully peeling the tape off of Ellie's mouth. Horatio entered the room to find Ryan picking Ellie up off the floor. He couldn't help but smile as he watched his friend, a father, carry his daughter downstairs to safety.

***

"Hey El," Ryan said softly, walking into the hospital room. Horatio had insisted that Ryan be the one to tell Ellie that he was her father. Ryan had paced in the hallway for a half an hour, trying to figure out how to word it.

"Hi Ryan." She glanced up at him through her chocolate brown eyes, analyzing his actions, "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong."

"Then why won't Horatio tell me what he was going to tell me at lunch?"

"Because he asked me to."

"Well...?" Ellie looked at him, hopeful for some good news.

"Horatio found your biological father," Ryan said. He smiled when he saw her face light up. He was beginning to see the family resemblance- they had the same nose.

"Really? Who is it?" Ryan paused for a moment. He took a deep breath and said the two words he knew would change his life forever.

"I am."

***

"Hey Ryan," said Natalia as she sat down next to him outside Ellie's hospital room. He looked up from the pile of forms in his lap.

"I hate forms," he complained, clicking his pen shut, "especially hospital forms. And legal forms."

"How many do you have to fill out?"

"Seventeen. Can you believe that?"

"Wow, that's a lot." She looked through them all, "Why are they in alphabetical order?"

"OCD runs in the family," Ryan said with a chuckle, "and Ellie got bored." Natalia had to laugh at the comment. It was so typical Ryan to come up with something like that.

"So how is she?" Natalia asked.

"Ellie's good. The doctors just want to keep her overnight to make sure she's completely fine and isn't suffering from any trauma. Then I can take her home," he said with a smile. He looked up to Natalia, "I can take my own daughter home."


	7. Chapter 7

I feel so guilty that it took me forever to get this chapter up! I had this MASSIVE writer's block and couldn't figure out where to go next with the story. I hope you like the chapter. :) Reviews are always welcome.

***

"Wow! I love it Ryan!" Ellie squealed, running around her new house, her new room, and most importantly (to her) her new kitchen. She examined the stainless steel appliances, the pots, then pans, the pantry, and the fridge. Ryan watched as she took everything in and switched two cartons of takeout food around. Her brow furrowed as she switched a few more into different spots.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She had seemed happy until about a minute ago.

"Your takeout food wasn't alphabetized properly. I _had_ to fix it. And do you know you have three cartons of moo shoo pork? Do you know how to cook?" she asked.

"Not really," he said sheepishly. Ellie smiled and ran for her room. She came down a moment later with an armload of cookbooks.

"No problem- Tom wasn't much of a cook either," she giggled, "and I have a couple recipes I've been meaning to try out." She placed the books on the counter, organizing them in size order.

"Do you wanna unpack, El? I can show you around the area afterwards," Ryan offered, "There's a beach down the road."

"Sure! It won't take long. My clothes are already color-coded." She left to go organize her closet. Ryan sat down and began flipping through the cookbook on top. The recipes actually sounded kind of good. Maybe having a gourmet chef- slash- daughter wouldn't be so bad after all.

***

Around six o'clock, Ellie heard a knock on the door. She ran to get it, out of habit, but Ryan beat her to it.

"Natalia, what are you doing here?" he asked, surprised to find his friend standing on his porch. She held a shopping bag in her hand.

"Hi Natalia!" Ellie said, poking her head out from behind Ryan.

"Hi. I thought, you know, it being your first night here, you guys might not want to cook. So I brought you guys some dinner," she said, handing Ryan the bag. She watched as Ellie whispered something his ear. He nodded at her.

"Natalia, do you want to stay for dinner with us?" she asked hopefully.

"Umm... sure. Thanks," she said, walking inside. She'd never been to Ryan's house before. She found it similar to his locker at work- organized and alphabetized. It was open and airy and perfect. She found herself daydreaming about coming home here, hanging her coat in the closet, sitting on the beige couch...

"So what do you want to drink, Nat?" Ryan asked, "We've got a couple different wines, lemonade, water, seltzer..."

"Seltzer's fine," Natalia said, sitting down at the table next to Ellie. She felt so at home in the relaxed atmosphere- it was so unlike the dinner table she had sat at when she was younger. She felt that this dinner might be fun.

***

After dinner, the three of them sat out on the back porch, cups of frozen hot chocolate in hand. After a few minutes, Ellie stood up.

"I'm kind of tired... I think I'm gonna go into bed now. Night Ryan. Night Natalia. Thanks for the dinner." She walked away from the two of them- she could sense that they wanted some alone time.

"So how's she adjusting?" Natalia asked once she heard the door clicked closed.

"Ellie seems okay with everything. She loved the fact that I hate to cook," he said with a grin, "She has all the recipes she wants to try... tabbed and color-coded, too." They sat for a few moments in silence. Natalia listened closely.

"What's that sound?" she asked, puzzled.

"Oh, the ocean."

"You live by the beach?"

"Yeah. You wanna go check it out?"

"Sure. Why not?" They placed their cups inside and grabbed some shoes. It took no more than two minutes to reach the beach. Natalia was amazed with the serenity of it all. Calm little waves lapped up at their feet. Natalia slipped off her sandals and left them on drier sand. The two of them meandered down the shore, hand in hand. Ryan thought that there was nothing more he'd rather do right then than be with Natalia.

After a while, the two of them sat down in the sand. Natalia rested her head on Ryan's shoulder.

"See that star, right there?" Natalia said, pointing one out, "That's Hao."

"Really?" Ryan asked, "What does it mean?"

"Queen."

"Wow. It's pretty."

"I know."

"It's not nearly as pretty as you are, Tali." Natalia smiled and looked up at Ryan. As she leaned in for a kiss, she knew that _this_ right here was love.


	8. Chapter 8

Again, I apologize for the lack of updating in this story and for the fact that this is a super-short chapter. I _think_ there's only going to be three more chapters, but who knows.

***

Natalia awoke the next morning to the sun streaming across her face in an unfamiliar pattern. She opened one eye, then the other, to find she wasn't in her apartment. She was still in her dress from last night and she was in _Ryan's_ bedroom. In fact, his strong, muscular arms were wrapped around her. She felt warm, comfortable, and safe- all things she never felt when she was with Nick.

"Morning," he whispered, kissing her softly behind the ear. Natalia squirmed around until she was facing him, her head against his chest. She lay there for a moment.

"Good morning," she said, pressing her head closer to him. Ryan held her tight, rubbing a lock of her cocoa colored silky hair between his fingers. She was perfect to him in every way. He kissed her on the forehead and tucked the lock of hair behind her ear.

"I love you," he whispered. Natalia's heart soared; this was how she wanted it to be.

"I love you too," she said. She took a moment to let everything sink in, and then she remembered- she was in _Ryan's_ bedroom. She tried to figure out what to say, "Ryan... I... did we...you know?"

"OH GOD!" The two of them sat up to find Ellie standing in the doorway, covering her eyes with her hands, "Please say you guys are wearing clothes." Natalia instantly flushed crimson and Ryan let out a nervous chuckle.

"We're wearing clothes, Ellie. You can uncover your eyes now," Ryan said, trying to hold in a laugh, "What did you want?"

"I wanted to know it you'd prefer fruit crepes or blueberry pastries for breakfast on your day off," she said, "I didn't know we had company."

"Hi El," Natalia said sheepishly, wiping the hair out of her face.

"Hi Natalia. So which do you guys want?" Ellie asked, attempting to get out of the room as quick as possible.

"Blueberry pastries are fine," said Ryan. Ellie nodded twice and left the room in a blur. Ryan and Natalia sat there in bed for a moment, and then Ryan laughed.

"I think she just might be scarred for life," he muttered. Natalia giggled.

"All because of me." Ryan looked her in the eye.

"But I'm going to get the wrath from it. She's probably afraid that I'll make another mistake."

"Aww, Ry, you just have rough patches."

"Yeah, every couple years there's a new one," he said, "Now come on. Let's go downstairs and eat before Ellie thinks we're up to something."


End file.
